Theosophical Encyclopedia

Henry Steel Olcott and his ”PHONOGRAPHS”

Details: Published: Saturday, 20 July 2024 13:46

Compiled by Jan Nicolaas Kind

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Jaishree Kannan

Not so long ago Jaishree Kannan who is in charge of the Adyar Library and Research Centre submitted a kind of “mystery-photo” without any backgriound information to me when we were exploring some historical photos of famous persons who might have once visited Adyar and Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931), the world-famous inventor, was one of them. It has now become clear that he never made it to Adyar, but his phonograph certainly did. He was the fourth most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Thomas Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont" in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey.

HISTORICAL PHOTOS: Indira Gandhi visits the Theosophical Society, Adyar.

Details: Published: Saturday, 08 June 2024 13:12

In 1882, the International Headquarters of the Society were established in Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai) in India. The Indian Section of the Theosophical Society was chartered on November 17, 1890 effective from 1 January 1891. The Indian Section of the Theosophical Society was registered on 31 August 1903 with its Headquarters at Varanasi.

Indira Gandhi, was the 3^rd Prime Minister of India and visited Adyar during the 1982 Centennial Celebration.

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Indira Gandhi during her visit

HPB and PHOTOGRAPHY - Sometimes A Thin Line Between Lunacy and Genius

Details: Published: Monday, 03 June 2024 13:51

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Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography

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The Daguerreotype camera

Katherine Tingley as I Knew Her

Details: Published: Thursday, 31 August 2023 10:01

Boris de Zirkoff – USA

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Katherine Tingley, founder of Lomaland, at her desk

[written in 1979]

July 11, 1979, will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Katherine Tingley's "Passing into Light," after a long life dedicated to the service of humanity.

As is often the case with unusual people, her stature grows as her image recedes into the distant past. Misunderstood by some, violently opposed by others, misjudged by those whose materialism and ignorant conceit were challenged by her spiritual outlook on life, Katherine Tingley is slowly being recognized as an inspired leader of thought, and a witness to the undreamt of possibilities of the hidden powers in man.

A New Occasional Paper

Details: Published: Saturday, 19 August 2023 14:12

Theosophical History Occasional Papers: Vol. XV: Revisiting Visionary Utopia: Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland 1898-1942: Exhibit and Archive Overview

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Lomaland

A new volume of Theosophical History Occasional Papers will be devoted to an overview of the Lomaland Community Theosophy exhibit held at the Special Collections Library at San Diego State University. The exhibit, Revisiting Visionary Utopia: Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland 1898–1942, has been ongoing since 2017, and will continue until 2020.

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Lomaland garden

The co-curators, Kenneth Small and Robert Ray, have assembled an extensive collection that includes original material from Emmett and Carmen Small (Mr. Small’s parents), Iverson and Helen Harris, Gordon Plummer, Marian Lester and other Lomaland residents. Original artwork by Lomaland resident artists, notably Reginald Machell, Edith White, Marian Lester, and Leonard Lester are featured. Documents from Theosophical luminaries, including co-founders Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) and William Q. Judge (1851–1896) and Lomaland Leaders Katherine Tingley (1847–1929) and G. de Purucker (1874–1942) will be included.

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Lomaland, Roja Yoga Academy

The exhibit includes memorabilia from drama, art, music and literature produced at Lomaland, residents’ letters and diaries, exhibit overviews of the community through photos and graphic art displays, recordings of Lomaland residents’ historical reflections and presentations on Theosophy and much more. Also, unique art works by Lomaland artists generously loaned from the San Diego History Center are displayed. A comprehensive finding aid is in process of being developed to make the exhibit accessible for students and scholars to study, with access to a comprehensive digital database.

The publication of the volume is planned for November 2019. It will contain a number of archival photos, documents, and letters from the Point Loma archives and selected examples of artwork by its members. The length will be approximately125 pages.

Publication will be in print form only. For information, please contact:

Dr. James Santucci

Department of Religious Studies

P.O. Box 6868

California State University

Fullerton, CA 92834-6868

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Foreword to Krishnamurti and the World Teacher Project

Details: Published: Monday, 24 July 2023 08:11

James Santucci – USA

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Govert Schüller

FOREWORD by Professor JAMES SANTUCCI

K. on Saturday August 3, 1929 in Ommen, the Netherlands, about to dissolve the Order of the Star

Go direct to Govert Schüller’s article, click HERE

FOREWORD

[Summary: This is the slightly revised “Foreword” to Govert Schüller’s Krishnamurti and the World Teacher Project: Some Theosophical Perceptions (Theosophical History Occasional Papers, Vol. V). Fullerton: Theosophical History, 1997): i–xiii. My purpose was to summarize the life of Jiddu Krishnamurti, to highlight his dissolution of the Order of the Star and the impact it had on the Theosophical Society, Mr. Schüller’s study of the reactions to JK’s persona and philosophy; the impact of Radha Rajagopal Sloss’s revelations detailed in her book, Lives in the Shadow with J. Krishnamurti; Theosophical reactions to Neo-Theosophy, to which the World Teacher Movement belonged, through both the “Back to Blavatsky” Movement and the Australian Theosophical Society Loyalty League; and finally the Gnostic origin of the Theosophical teachings concerning the World Teacher.]* * *

Clueless we go; but I have heard thy voice,

Divine Unreason! harping in the leaves,

And grieve no more; for wisdom never grieves,

And thou hast taught me wisdom; I rejoice.

(Aldous Huxley, The Cicadas)

On February 17, 1986, the life of one of the great teachers of the twentieth century, Jiddu Krishnamurti, came to an end. No teacher who claimed to give the Truth has done so in so unconventional a manner: so totally contrary to the expectations of his followers, so utterly confusing to his detractors. His was a life that approximated the mystique befitting the archetypal religious teacher. The story of his early life is now familiar to his followers: a portentous birth impressed by his psychic mother’s premonition that he, her eighth child, was someone who was not to be like other children¹; the discovery of the adolescent by the clairvoyantly gifted Charles W. Leadbeater (1854–1934) who asserted that K.² was to be overshadowed by a great Spiritual force in the person of Lord Maitreya, the World Teacher³; and the first hint of this Force manifesting itself, in Benares on the 28th of December (1911). Leadbeater described this occurrence in The Herald of the Star⁴ as

Theosophy Cultural Perspectives

Details: Published: Monday, 26 June 2023 09:27

Kenneth Small and Robert Ray -- USA

Revisiting Visionary Utopia - Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland

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Kenneth Small and Robert Ray

Introduction - Kenneth Small

A series of serendipitous connections brought me to collaborate with Robert Ray, head of the Special Collections Library at San Diego State University (retired 2021), which resulted in ongoing exhibits centered on the Lomaland Theosophical Community beginning in 2016 through the spring of 2020. I was introduced to Robert Ray by Prof. Rebecca Moore, then chair of the religious studies department at SDSU in 2015. This opened a period of collaboration and great creative effort on the part of special collections centered on the Lomaland community. The scope of our Lomaland and theosophical archive focused on the historical period from 1897-1942. Our extensive archival resources on the post 1942 Lomaland history, later theosophical resource materials and correspondence, theosophical and perennialism studies etc were viewed as outside the scope of these initial projects and maintained separately. Robert Ray and I decided to keep as a primary focus the culture of the Lomaland community and its creativity, values and internal culture and community/global influence. The Lomaland community’s events and Katherine Tingley’s more detailed, rather complex specific history, we felt would come in future exhibits, studies and presentations and outside the scope of these initial cultural overview exhibits and presentations. During the time period of these two exhibits, we hosted lectures by a variety of scholars, including Massimo Introvigne on Lomaland symbolist/visionary artist Reginald Machell; Dwayne Little, PhD, professor emeritus Point Loma Nazarene College on Katherine Tingley and Lomaland; Riain Ross-Hager on Lomaland resident and Welsh poet, Kenneth Morris; Kenneth Small on Raja Yoga Education, Art, Drama and Literature at Lomaland etc. It is our view that this broader understanding of Lomaland’s daily life, cultural and theosophical core values and ideals, sets the necessary stage for future more detailed examinations and presentations.